Allen & Unwin

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George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 whenSir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian subsidiary in 1976. In 1990 Allen & Unwin was sold toHarperCollins, and the Australian branch was the subject of amanagement buy-out.

Allen & Unwin

Founded	1914 (United Kingdom) 1976 (Australian arm)
Founder	Stanley Unwin
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Headquarters location	Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia
Distribution	United Book Distributors (Australia) Atlantic Books (UK adult) Murdoch Books (UK children's) Trafalgar Square Publishing (North America, China) APD Singapore (Singapore) Wild Dog Press (South Africa)^[1]
Publication types	Books
Imprints	Arena, Crows Nest, House of Books, Inspired Living,Murdoch Books, Pier 9
Official website	www.allenandunwin.com

George Allen & Unwin in the UK

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George Allen & Sons was established in 1871 byGeorge Allen, with the backing ofJohn Ruskin,^[2] becomingGeorge Allen & Co. Ltd. in 1911 when it merged withSwan Sonnenschein and thenGeorge Allen & Unwin on 4 August 1914 as a result of Stanley Unwin's purchase of a controlling interest.^[3] Frank Arthur Mumby and Frances Helena Swan Stallybrass,^[4] Unwin's sonRayner S. Unwin and his nephew Philip helped him to run the company, which published works byBertrand Russell,Arthur Waley,Roald Dahl,Lancelot Hogben andThor Heyerdahl. It became well known asJ. R. R. Tolkien's publisher some time after publishing the popular children's fantasy novelThe Hobbit in 1937, and itshigh fantasy sequelThe Lord of the Rings novel in 1954–1955. Book series published by the firm in this period include theMuirhead Library of Philosophy andUnwin Books, a paperback imprint.^[5]

Rayner Unwin retired at the end of 1985, and the firm was amalgamated in 1986 withBell & Hyman to formUnwin Hyman Ltd., with Robin Hyman as chief executive. From this time "Allen & Unwin" continued only as the name of the Australian subsidiary of Unwin Hyman. Rayner Unwin returned for a while as part-time chairman of Unwin Hyman, retiring again at the end of 1988. It was over the objections of Rayner Unwin, the largestshareholder, that in 1990 Hyman sold the firm to HarperCollins.^[6]^[7] HarperCollins has since sold Unwin Hyman's academic book list toRoutledge.

Allen & Unwin in Australia

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Allen & Unwin Australia Pty Ltd became independent in July 1990 by means of a management buy-out after the UK firm was bought byHarperCollins. Now known simply as "Allen & Unwin", the company went on to become the most successful "independent" publisher in Australia. It currently publishes up to 250 new titles a year. Among the many authors published by Allen & Unwin areAlex Miller,Christos Tsiolkas,Garth Nix,Jodi Picoult,Kate Morton,Michael Connelly,Thomas Keneally,Peter Corris,Paul Keating,Stephanie Dowrick, andChristopher Hitchens. Allen & Unwin is also co-sponsor and publisher of the annualAustralian/Vogel Literary Award.

In 2017, Allen & Unwin refused to publish the bookSilent Invasion due to legal concerns that it "would be targeted by Beijing and its proxies in Australia."^[8]^[9]